Matchups

The Baltimore Orioles look to continue their dominance over the Tampa Bay Rays this season when they begin a four-game home series Friday with a split doubleheader. The Orioles have won seven of eight games while belting 10 homers against the Rays in 2014, including two victories in Baltimore by a combined score of 10-1 in April. While Tampa Bay owns the worst record in baseball, Baltimore has won six of its last eight and trails Toronto by only 1 ½ games in the American League East.

Jason Hammel figures to be a popular trade chip in the next month, so he needs to enjoy his time at Wrigley Field while he can. The right-hander will try to pitch the Chicago Cubs to a second straight victory over the visiting Washington Nationals on Friday. The Nationals are trying to avoid a third consecutive loss and preserve their one-game lead over Atlanta atop the National League East.

The Baltimore Orioles look to continue their dominance over the Tampa Bay Rays this season when they begin a four-game home series Friday with a split doubleheader. The Orioles have won seven of eight games while belting 10 homers against the Rays in 2014, including two victories in Baltimore by a combined score of 10-1 in April. While Tampa Bay owns the worst record in baseball, Baltimore has won six of its last eight and trails Toronto by only 1 ½ games in the American League East.

The Boston Red Sox left the West Coast with a victory but remain in pretty bad shape as they head to New York for the start of a three-game series with the rival Yankees on Friday. The offense continues to be the main problem for the Red Sox, who have scored more than three runs only twice in the last 12 contests. The Yankees snapped a four-game slide with a win in Toronto on Wednesday and have had little trouble with Boston in previous 2014 meetings.

Justin Upton is starting to heat up once again after enduring a sluggish stretch. The talented outfielder hopes his Atlanta Braves follow suit when they open a four-game series against the host Philadelphia Phillies on Friday. Upton is enjoying a 5-for-15 run with two homers and five RBIs on his four-game hitting streak for the Braves, who have dropped four of six to Philadelphia this season.

The Pittsburgh Pirates can move two games above .500 for the first time in 2 1/2 months when they host the New York Mets on Friday night in the second contest of a four-game series. Rookie Gregory Polanco, who homered and had four RBIs in the series opener, has hit safely in 14 of 16 games since he was called up from the minors. "It's a good time for him to be included on our club and he's obviously making a difference since he's been up here," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.

The Toronto Blue Jays appear to be pulling out of their funk while the Chicago White Sox are traveling in the opposite direction. The Blue Jays attempt to take advantage of Chicago’s swoon again when they host the second of a four-game set on Friday. Toronto grabbed a 7-0 victory in Thursday’s opener, picking up its third win in four games while handing the White Sox their 11th loss in the last 14 contests.

The Oakland Athletics had the luxury of taking it easy on Thursday while the Miami Marlins exhausted their bullpen en route to losing a 14-inning marathon. The Athletics look to take advantage of the situation and post their seventh win in nine outings on Friday when the teams open a three-game interleague series in South Beach. The Marlins are trending in the opposite direction after suffering their 10th defeat in 15 outings with a 5-3 setback to Philadelphia on Thursday.

The Texas Rangers are mired in their longest losing streak since August 2005 as they prepare to open a three-game series against the visiting Minnesota Twins on Friday night. The Rangers were outscored 22-8 during a three-game sweep at the hands of the Detroit Tigers and have lost eight in a row to drop eight games below .500 for the first time since September 2008. Texas fared well against the Twins last month, winning three of four in Minnesota.

Justin Verlander has spent much of the past six weeks absorbing uncharacteristic beatings but the former Cy Young Award winner will be looking to build on a positive outing last time out. Verlander takes the mound when the streaking Detroit Tigers continue their nine-game road trip with the first of three contests against the Houston Astros on Friday night. The Tigers are a perfect 6-0 on their trek and are flexing their offensive muscles, scoring 43 in the six games.

The Colorado Rockies are locked in a swoon and their inability to retire Aramis Ramirez is making it difficult to pull out of the funk. Ramirez and the Milwaukee Brewers will attempt to hand the Rockies their 10th loss in 11 contests when they host the second of a four-game set on Friday. Ramirez is 10-for-16 with three home runs in four games against Colorado over the last week.

The Los Angeles Angels look to extend their longest winning streak of the season when they begin a three-game series at Kansas City on Friday night. The Angels capped a 6-0 homestand with a 6-4 win over Minnesota on Thursday, surviving a rocky ninth to win for the 18th time in their last 22 home games. The road has been less kind, as Los Angeles has dropped nine of its last 12 away from home.

The weak-hitting San Diego Padres attempt to bounce back from being no-hit when they open up a three-game series against the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday. San Diego, which ranks last in the majors in both runs scored (238) and batting average (.213), was no-hit by San Francisco’s Tim Lincecum on Wednesday for the second time in a stretch of 11-plus months. Arizona has lost 10 of its last 14 games as it begins a nine-game road trip.

The Seattle Mariners look to get back into the win column when they host the Cleveland Indians in the first of three games Friday night. Seattle had won five straight games before dropping the finale of a set against Boston on Wednesday, which also snapped a five-game run at home. Third baseman Kyle Seager was an extremely tough out in the series, going 8-for-13 with two home runs, two doubles and seven RBIs against Red Sox pitching.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals own two of the best pitching staffs in the league and are already putting them on display early in the series. The offenses will attempt to combine for more than one run when the Dodgers host the Cardinals in the second of a four-game series on Friday. Josh Beckett and Adam Wainwright matched zeros through seven innings in the opener before Wainwright blinked in a 1-0 Los Angeles victory.

The San Francisco Giants have lost 12 of their last 16 games heading into Friday’s contest against the visiting Cincinnati Reds, and manager Bruce Bochy is growing impatient with his team's struggling offense. “We’ve got to get the bats going,” he told reporters after Thursday’s 3-1 series-opening loss. “We’re playing some good teams and facing some great pitching going forward. It’s going to be vital that we get going.”